Carnival Row is described as a fantasy-noir set in a neo-Victorian city. Mythical creatures fleeing their war-torn homeland have gathered in the city, and tensions are simmering between citizens and the growing immigrant population. The series follows the investigation into a string of unsolved murders that are eating away at whatever uneasy peace still exists.

Gyasi will play Agreus, a mysteriously wealthy faun who moves into an affluent human neighborhood in defiance of the social order. Crome will play Tourmaline, a quick-witted faerie love poet driven from her war-torn homeland and forced to work in a brothel on Carnival Row. Varma will play Piety Breakspear, the regal and cunning matriarch of the powerful family that rules the city of the Burgue. Merchant will play Imogen Spurnrose, a young woman who sees in Agreus an opportunity to turn her aristocratic family’s fading fortunes around.

Executive producing Carnival Row, which starts production this fall in Prague for 2019 premiere, are writer/showrunner Echevarria, Beacham, on whose feature script the project is based, and McGuigan, who will direct.

Actor-writer Crome, known for her roles in Misfits and Hit & Miss, is currently shooting feature Vita and Virginia with Elizabeth Dibicki and Gemma Arterton. She also starred in the National Theatre production of Amadeus directed by Michael Longhurst and played the lead in the critically acclaimed ITV series The Level. She’s repped by Troika and Thruline Entertainment.

Varma recently played Ellaria Sand in Game of Thrones and will next be seen in Showtime’s Melrose, based on the Patrick Melrose series of semi-autobiographical novels. Also upcoming for Varma is a role in the film Close, loosely based on the experiences of Jacqui Davis, one of the world’s leading female bodyguards.

Merchant’s credits include roles as Katherine Howard in Showtime’s The Tudors, Mary Rivers in Cary Fukanaga’s Jane Eyre, and Anne Hale in WGN’s Salem. She has also appeared in many UK and U.S. TV productions for the BBC, the CW and ITV.